1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle body structure and, more particularly, to a front body structure of a motor vehicle of a front engine type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In motor vehicles of a front engine type, the body structure has a dash panel which separates the front engine compartment from the near passenger compartment. Above the dash panel, there is a front windshield so that the dash panel is structured to support the lower edge portion of the windshield. For the purpose, there is formed a cowl structure which is of a closed cross-sectional configuration and extends substantially transversely along the upper end portion of the dash panel to support the lower edge of the windshield.
In the aforementioned conventional vehicle body structure, problems have been encountered in that the front windshield glass is of a curved configuration having a forwardly convex curvature. In order that the cowl structure be able to support such curved windshield glass, the structure is constructed to possess a width or fore-and-aft dimension which is sufficient to accommodate for the curved lower edge portion of the windshield glass. On Examples of the vehicle front structure are shown in Japanese utility model laid-open No. 57-37087 and the utility model publication No. 57-11813. Such conventional structure is however disadvantageous in that both the engine compartment and the passenger compartment are restricted in available space due to the cowl structure. More specifically, in the side portions, only the rear portion of the cowl structure is used to support the windshield whereas, in the central portion, only the front portion is effectively used to support the windshield. Thus, the remaining portions of the cowl structure is considered as simply decreasing available spaces in the engine and passenger compartments.